Gladys Unger

The Divine Woman Gladys Unger

The Divine Woman, Released by MGM, 1928 starring Greta Garbo is considered a "Lost Film" Only a short nine minute sequence with Russian subtitles has survived, discovered in 1993 at the Gosfilmofond, Moscow. Unfortunately it was stored in the same MGM backlot vault as another "Lost" film "London After Midnight" and both were destoyed by a fire. Adapted from the 1925 play Starlight by Gladys Unger which starred Doris Keane, the plot is loosely based on stories of the early life of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt. Marianne (Greta Garbo) is a poor French girl who goes to Paris in the 1860s to seek her fortune as an actress. As she rises to success in the theatre, she must choose between the romantic attentions of two men: Lucien (Lars Hanson), a passionate young army deserter who goes to jail after stealing a dress for her, and Henry Legrand (Lowell Sherman), a Paris producer who offers her fame and fortune. If the film is never found This novelette written by Gladys Unger, based on the shooting script by Dorothy Farnum might be the only glimpse we have on Garbo's only lost film.